Beware of the Snake in the Sweet Potatoes
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Authors
Blevins, Lynda L
Issue Date
2024-06-03
Type
Language
Keywords
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Abstract
This essay is a survey of Southern authors’ use of the grotesque literary mode to develop
conflicted characters who move their stories forward and captures the fear reflected in the
cultural and social norms of the places and times of the American South.
In this lecture, we will explore the following questions: What is the grotesque? How has
it survived through the centuries? What makes this literary mode successful with Southern
fiction? How is Southern gothic and this grotesque affecting my work? How can this help other
writers?
For this talk, we’ll focus on the work of Flannery O’Connor, Eudora Welty, Toni
Morrison and Cormac McCarthy. In addition, we will look at William Faulkner’s impact on
Southern authors. The grotesque is a natural home for Southern writers to tell the tough stories of
our past, present, and future and of the ancestors who haunt us.